Monday, August 21, 2006

Our trip to MI (with lots of pics)

We had a very nice trip to MI and managed to fit quite a bit into a week and still have time to relax. The many pics below (taken with my lousy point & shoot camera since I didn't want to risk damaging my nice one) show some of the highlights from the trip.

One thing we didn't get any pics of though was our floating trip down the Au Sable River. My parents, Jody, Ava and I had four floaty lounge-chair type things that we tied together and floated down the river. Ava sat on daddy's lap for most of the float, then came over to join me and baby brother for the end of it. It was a lot of fun, though got a bit chilly at the end when the wind started picking up.

I also feel bad because I didn't get any good pics of Ava playing with her grandparents, mostly because when she was occupied with them, I was off doing something else. She had a lot of fun with them though - helping water flowers, picking vegetables in the garden, going for wagon rides around the neighborhood and reading books.

Jody got to golf a couple times with my dad, which was fun for him because he never golfs, but also made him realize how much practicing he'd need to do to be any good. ;)

It was nice to spend some time with my parents and not feel rushed to go do this, that or the other thing, which is usually how our visits go because there's always some big function planned. They seem really happy and settled in their place in Oscoda.

On our last day in MI, we travelled back down state (since we were flying out of Detroit Airport) and stopped by my aunt, uncle and cousins' house for lunch, then briefly saw my brother at his house before getting to the airport to catch our flight home. The flight was delayed about an hour and a half - first, waiting on the flight attendants, then, after they loaded us on the plane, waiting for the pilot (doh!). But we had a safe, uneventful flight home. :)Click the pic to view it largerA perfect day (though a little windy) at Lake Huron - 8/13/06:Going swimming in the big lake - 8/13/06:Practicing her golf swing with daddy (though after the way he golfed this week, it should've been grandma or grandpa helping her!) - 8/13/06:We had s'more at a campfire in grandma and grandpa's backyard (grandma and Aunt Carrie in the pic too) - 8/13/06:At Foote Dam (with grandpa) - 8/14/06:Chasing the fishies (minnows) down at "Three Pipes" on the Au Sable River - 8/15/06:Looking for more fishies - 8/15/06:Being a little fishy herself - 8/15/06:Swimming with daddy - 8/15/06:On the beach at Negwegon State Park (a beautiful secluded beach on the way to Alpena) - 8/17/06:Rock thrower - 8/17/06:In her own little world, exploring the beach - 8/17/06:Walking on the beach with mommy - 8/17/06:Stopping to check out the view (while Ava slept in the car) - 8/17/06:Picking blueberries (she ate most of what she picked, right off the bushes) - 8/18/06:Ava showing off a freshly-picked blueberry - 8/18/06:Taking a break from picking to smile with grandma - 8/18/06:Modeling the new tutu grandma and mommy made - 8/18/06:Our family (in front of grandma and grandpa's house) before the drive down state to the airport - 8/19/06:Time to say good-bye to grandma and grandpa before we fly home to CO (at the airport in Detroit) - 8/19/06:It's good to be home (I confess I missed my bed and body pillow), though we're not settled back into our groove yet. Ava and I went to a grape jelly canning "party" this morning at a friend's house. I'd never canned anything myself before so it was cool to see how it's all done and I'm excited to taste the jar of jelly we brought home. :)

I can't believe that I'll be 28 weeks along this week!! I'm really getting close to the end and I don't feel ready at all. I have both a midwife appointment and acupuncturist appointment this week. I'm also going to look into seeing a chiropractor a time or two before baby boy comes to make sure I'm well-aligned. I've never been before, but I know it certainly can't hurt.

In other news, my sister is all moved into her apartment just a few miles from our house. :) We've seen her more times in the past few days than we have in the last year I think! She goes for her school (3rd year law) orientation tomorrow.

Well, the kiddo is going down for a nap, and I have things to do, so that's all for now.

22 Comments:

Sounds like a lovely relaxing holiday! I laughed at the topless ballerina and bluberry pics. Tim was the same when we went picking. Most of them went in his mouth, but he had a great time and I'm sure Ava did too!

You're looking well Amy :) Good luck with your appts. I went to a chiro when I was pg with Tim and it seemed to help me with the general aches/pains especially in late pg. Unfortunately my favourite chiro has moved and I haven't got around to finding another. Think I might visit the osteopath clinic associated with the polytech where I work and see if they can help - it's conveniently close.

Grape jelly sounds nice - we don't seem to get it here. Mum makes guava jelly though which is yum.

Kleopatra - Thank you. It's good to be back. Hope you had a great time on your trip as well. :)

Penny - Yes, Ava enjoyed the blueberry picking. She ate them out of her bucket for most of the drive back to grandma's too. ;) Thank you. I'm still feeling good, but I definitely remember the aches at the end of my pregnancy with Ava and will be happy to do something to aleviate that this time around. Never had guava jelly (or guavas at all for that matter)!

Leigh - Thank you. I'm glad to be back and posting again. Thx about the belly and tutu. After my mom cut all the tulle, it was really easy to put together and no sewing involved! :) I have another one I plan to assemble as well.

Tiffiny - Thank you. I'm going to have to start playing around with taking some maternity shots of myself in the not too distant future. Yes, my dad definitely looks good for his age. Not that he's old (he's almost 55), but he looks the youngest of his friends that are the same age.I was sure to ask Jody before I posted those pics. He said he didn't care. :)

Isil - Thanks! I'm glad to be back too.

Miriam - Yes, it was a good time. And yes, I did get her bathingsuit from Target. I bought it back in Feb. cuz we had a pool birthday party to go to. They seem to run small cuz I had to buy size 4T and generally she wears 2T or 3T. It's a cute suit. :)

Amy - Thank you. :)Yes, my sis has been going to law school for the past 2 years up in MI, but was able to xfer to CU for her last year as a "visiting student." It's lovely to have her back in CO and close to us. :) (She used to live here but moved to go to school when Ava was a month old.) Not sure what she wants to do with it. I know she's very much into women's rights and worked over the summer at a firm that helped victims of domestic violence.

Niecey - Thank you. :) You are so sweet.

Maggie - Thank you too! :) I feel like my belly is so big already, but I still have 12 more weeks to go!

Foxymom - Thanks. :) I got the idea for the tutu off ILP (ilovephotography.com). if you haven't been over there yet, you should DEFINTELY check it out. there's a wealth of info on those msg boards. :)All you need is some ribbon for the waistband and about 4 yards total of tulle (i used 2 yards of 2 different colors). You cut the tulle in 2 or 3 inch wide strips, then tie it over the ribbon so that the tulle hangs down in two equal strips. The hardest part was cutting the tulle but my mom had a cutting board and a great little tool for cutting since she sews a lot. :)I just found a link if you need more info: http://ilp.tlcwe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=86154&hl=tutu+poofI plan on using my tutus for my photog biz too. Ava was just there to model for me. :)